BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1178
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Date of Hearing: May 18, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1178 (Ma) - As Amended: May 10, 2011
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:5-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill limits local government's ability to restrict the
importation of solid waste. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits a local government from limiting the importation of
solid waste based on its place of origin, except in the case
of a publicly owned solid waste facility seeking to impose
such a limitation.
2)Authorizes a city or county to assess special fees of a
reasonable amount on the importation of solid waste from
outside the county.
3)Does not require a private solid waste facility to accept
solid waste from outside the city or county or limit a city or
county's land use authority.
4)Prohibits a city or county from exporting solid waste unless
the exporter has done either of the following:
a) Implemented a hazardous waste element and a source
reduction and recycling element, approved by the Department
of Recycling and Resources Recovery (Calrecycle).
b) Submitted a countywide integrated waste management plan.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible state costs, if any.
COMMENTS
AB 1178
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1)Rationale. The author intends this bill to resolve a
situation in Solano County, in which a local ballot
measure-passed decades ago and since then ruled
unconstitutional but rewritten by a county superior court
judge and currently subject to appeal-limits the amount of
solid waste that can be imported into the county from other
California counties each year.
2) Background.
a) Waste Management Act Recognizes Need for Regional
Management of Waste. Existing law asserts the need for a
regional approach to waste management. Specifically, the
California Integrated Waste Management Act, passed in 1989,
declares the public interest of authorizing and requiring
local agencies, as subdivisions of the state, to make
adequate provisions for solid waste handling, both within
their respective jurisdictions and in response to regional
needs.
b) Waste Importation in Solano County and the Interesting
Case of Measure E . In 1984, solid waste facilities
imported nearly 500,000 tons of waste into Solano County a
year, most of it from San Francisco. In response, county
voters passed Measure E, which restricted importation of
solid waste into the county to no more than 95,000 tons a
year.
In 1992, the Legislative Counsel of California and the
County Counsel of Solano County opined that Measure E
violated the commerce clause of the United State
Constitution, at which point the county board of
supervisors chose not to implement the measure.
One of the largest importers of solid waste into Solano
County is the Portrero Hills Landfill. Recently, the
county approved final environmental documents for the
landfill's planned expansion. Opponents of the project
filed suit in Solano County Superior Court, seeking to
enforce Measure E. In May of 2010, the judge hearing the
case agreed that Measure E was unconstitutional, as
written. The judge however, took the unusual but
apparently permissible step of rewriting the measure. The
judge concluded that, by rewriting the measure to limit the
AB 1178
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importation of waste by county of origin, but not by state,
the court could ensure measure does not violate the
Constitution's commerce clause.
The judge's decision and rewrite of Measure E are being
appealed.
3)Support . This bill is supported by a long list of commercial
and waste management organizations who contend the state's
waste, and waste management laws, require regional waste
management. These supporters add that it is unfair for a
local government to restrict a private business's ability to
receive solid waste in keeping with local zoning and
permitting based simply on the origin of the solid waste.
4)Opposition . This bill is opposed by Californians Against
Waste, the Sierra Club, and local groups who oppose expansion
of the Portrero Hills Landfill, as well as the County of San
Bernardino and the Monterey Regional Waste Management
District, among others.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081